RECIPE: Celery, chorizo and bean stew

Feast on this hearty stew which gets a background flavour from crunchy celery.

Serves 4-6

Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus soaking the beans overnight

Cooking time: Approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

6 shallots, sliced

250g chorizo, cut into 2cm slices

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp smoked paprika

½ head Fenland celery, each stalk cut into 3 pieces, plus a few leaves for garnish

1.5 litres chicken or vegetable stock

500g dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight in cold water

2 bay leaves

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Small bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

How to make

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sweat the shallots until soft and translucent but not coloured at all.

Add the chorizo, turn up the heat a little and continue frying until the chorizo and shallots are lightly caramelized.

Add the garlic, smoked paprika and Fenland celery and fry for a further minute before pouring in the stock.

Finally add the drained beans and tuck in the bay leaves. Bring up to the boil and simmer steadily until the beans are soft and tender. This could take anything between an hour and an hour and a half depending on the dryness and age of the beans. Keep an eye on it and add a little cold water if it looks a bit dry at any stage.

When the beans are cooked, stir through the flat leaf parsley and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve in deep bowls scattered with a few celery leaves.